How to Communicate With Teaching Staff in College

How to Communicate With Teaching Staff in College Communicating with Teaching Staff in College: 6 Tips When students are in high school, they can talk with their teacher Monday through Friday during the QA class period or lunch or free block. Additionally, for the most part, teachers are available through email and have a relatively quick turnaround time for communication. However, once students start college, there will be a totally different system of communication. Some professors have several hundred students in a lecture class, and they may have 200 emails a day from students that they dont have time to answer thoroughly. Whether a student is attempting to reach the professor through an online communication system, directly during office hours, or through a teaching assistant, there are good and bad ways to communicate with the teaching staff at the university level. 1. Time is valuable Its important for students to give professors plenty of time to get back to them if they have an important question. Talking with a professor about an exam or assignment the night before it’s due is probably pointless. Rather, students should allow at least three business days for a professor to get back to them on a basic question or as much time as possible if its something important regarding an exam. For the most part, its better to chat after class or during class time if allowed (READ: Going off to college: 5 things to do this August). 2. Clear and concise questions Professors are asked a lot of questions throughout the term that they may have already answered. As a result, it’s better to keep questions clear and concise and make sure they are pertinent to the current assignment or exam. Students should also check to see if these questions have already been answered in the syllabus or the online communication system set up for the course. 3. Email turnaround time Email turnaround time is different in college than in high school. Although high school teachers receive a lot of questions from students and parents, they dont have hundreds of people in their class. If a professor has 200 students in a lecture class, it could be quite a long time before they get around to answering questions, perhaps a week or more. Professors with 20 to 40 students in their class probably have at least a 72-hour turnaround time. 4. Talking with the TA A great option for communication is talking with the TA (teaching assistant). College courses with 60 or more students have a teaching assistant to help out with grading assignments and student communication. Teaching assistants are Masters or Ph.D. students who are interested in either pursuing a career in teaching or the specific subfield of the course. As a result, they are a great resource and are happy to take the time to talk with students either in person or by email (READ: Irvine College Tutoring Tips: 5 Ways to Keep Social and Study Time Separate in College this Fall). 5. Office appointments When students have more complicated questions about assignments or projects, they are encouraged to set an office appointment to talk with the professor one-on-one. This will allow students the opportunity to get extra help and clear up confusing information. However, if they only have a simple question, its best just to ask it after class. Office appointments provide a valuable communication tool to students because it allows an opportunity for both student and professor to focus on one issue without the distraction of other students or an overwhelming class schedule. 6. Online communication systems Nearly every university level course will have an online communication system. They are called something different at each school, such as Blackboard, and allow students access to assignments, the syllabus, and FAQs. If students have a question about the basic information, they are encouraged to check the online communication forum where they can look for common answers or even connect with classmates, who can share pertinent information. Irvine private college tutoring will help you stay ahead of your classes and score high on your midterms and finals. Here at TutorNerds, we work around your busy schedule. Call us today for more information. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.